Celebrating the dead, Puente style

At Puente, preparing for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is anything but macabre. At a joyful workshop in early October, women’s hands (and a few men’s) reach into mixing bowls filled with a gooey blend of water, powdered sugar and meringue. Fingers push the sweet paste into molds the shape of skulls, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.

The faux skulls are the centerpiece of a Día de los Muertos tradition that has been rooted in Mexico for centuries. Puente’s adult community looks forward to the holiday festivities all year.

The sugar skulls are decorated with faux gems and paint, flowers and feathers. They will adorn a community altar, which will be displayed on November 1 at the final Pescadero Grown! Farmers’ Market of the season.

The Día de los Muertos program, run by Youth Program Associate Alejandra Ortega and part of the larger Madres Project funded through the Bella Vista Foundation, also involves making hundreds of beautiful paper flowers and artisanal Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead).

Día de los Muertos is a deeply personal ritual, and often an occasion to memorialize a loved one.

“I am dedicating this sugar skull to my parents and one of my brothers who died,” said Irma, a workshop participant who came in to decorate the sugar skull she made.

“My sugar skull is inspired by my grandma. She died of breast cancer last year,” said Gaby, who was there too.

When the altar goes on display, it will be laid with candles, art and photos commemorating the dead.

Día de los Muertos also has a strong element of nostalgia, and so in that way it is oddly comforting, says Rita Mancera, Program Director.

“It’s not just about death, it’s also about  loss – the things they had to leave in Mexico – the people, but also the life they left behind,” explains Mancera. “By celebrating it, it helped them remember those good times.”

The Madres Project helps combat maternal depression by connecting South Coast mothers with one another in a culturally resonant way. The idea is to create opportunities for group interactions that bring joy and a sense of community to those who may feel isolated. Bella Vista continues to award Puente $40,000 annually for Día de los Muertos, to stage the Christmas Posada and to provide counseling year-round.

In spite of the hyper-blogged presidential debates and media-driven election controversies, many people on the South Coast do not feel connected to local, state or national elections.

This year, Puente was taking no chances. A month before the election, Puente staff was out in full force handing out voter registration forms. They targeted first-time voters: new citizens, and local youth who had just turned 18.

“One by one, we’re getting them all,” laughs Rita Mancera, Program Director for Puente.

Especially the young people.

“When someone votes at a young age, statistics show they’re going to keep voting later in life,” continues Mancera. “They may not understand much about politics, but I think it’s important that they know they have a voice. And I think this will help them feel more informed.”

Puente got Javier Morales to register to vote. He’ll be 19 in November, and this will be his first presidential election.

“I’ve always been kind of interested in politics. Especially this year, all the California propositions – how they want to take away the death penalty. And how they want to minimize penalties for ‘three-strikes,’” Morales says.

The life-long Pescadero resident enjoys watching the presidential debates and summarizing them for his friends. And he devoted a serious amount of attention to scrutinizing the two candidates for president.

“Especially now they we’re in a tough economy, I’ve been seeing how their budgets work out,” he says.

In spite of President Barack Obama’s much-vaunted appeal among youth voters in the 2008 election, numbers show that surprisingly few young people actually bothered to vote four years ago. It’s unclear how the diminished level of excitement for this year’s election will end up affecting young people’s voting choices this time around.

Farm worker housing. Immigration. For years, Puente has had help defending the rights of South Coast residents, thanks to valuable partnerships with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) and Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto.

When local renters were suffering adverse effects from leaky, moldy farm worker housing, Puente connected with CRLA. Four tenants had the courage to bring a lawsuit against their landlord, forcing him to improve the housing stock. Thanks to CRLA, they also won substantial damages.

Puente introduced CRLA to a wide group of locals, and provided the clients and attorneys with a private place to talk, says Lisel Holdenried, a migrant staff attorney who handled the case.

“It would have been much more difficult if it weren’t for Puente,” says Holdenried. “They’re the first place in the community that our clients would go to for all kinds of services that we can’t provide. They’re the eyes and ears on the ground.”

More recently, Puente and CRLA have teamed up on a campaign to advocate for the county to make more affordable housing available to farm workers on the coast. They also want to make it easier for those who might have buildings to convert into farm worker rental housing, to do so.

Whole families have found a way to stay in the U.S. with legal papers, thanks to Puente’s client referrals to Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto. The two nonprofits have been collaborating for years on cases that Puente doesn’t have the legal expertise to solve.

Community Legal Services defended a Pescadero teen who was threatened with being deported to Mexico and separated from his family. It has filed visas for South Coast residents who came to the U.S. seeking asylum from persecution at home, and others who have been victims of rape.

Rosa Gomez, an immigration attorney with Community Services, says Puente’s referrals have been “incredibly valuable.”

“They’re in the community, and we’re in East Palo Alto. The coast in particular is isolated and really under-served,” says Gomez.

This fall, attorneys with Community Legal Services held several workshops at Puente’s headquarters to brief young people about applying for DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Successful applicants will be able to legally work and drive in the U.S. for two years. Nearly 15 South Coast  youth have applied so far.